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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: What are your recommendations for a 12 (Canadian) stock TFSA from your BE portfolio with a 3-5 yr hold with average to above average risk tolerance? Looking for individual company names.

Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Glen on July 04, 2018
Q: I’m investing for a parent who is currently 100% in cash, is nearing retirement and has never invested. They will not actually need income for another 3-5 years, but I would like to generate some dividends, so they can see actual cash coming off their investments (this may be reinvested). I think dividends will help psychologically if the equity portion declines as they will at least “be paid to wait” while the market recovers.

I am considering constructing the portfolio as follows:
30% Cash – PSA
50% Bonds – ZAG
10% Equity – International Dividend – PID
10% Equity – International Broad Index – XAW
10% Equity – Canada Growth – 5i

Can you provide 5i’s 2 or 3 highest conviction calls right now. I’m looking for growth at a reasonable price. Not looking for yield, but would like it to at least pay a modest dividend.

I would also be interested in any views you have about the suitability of the portfolio and any alternative / additional suggestions you may have.
If there is a correction in the equity markets in next few years or one of 5i’s A companies slips on a banana peel, I may look to put some of the cash to work and increase the equity potion.

My tactical views are: interest rates will rise with the US leading the way, the US broad equity markets are looking very expensive, Bonds are generally not a good investment and at low rates they will get killed by inflation over the long run (but they reduce volatility).

Also, in terms of allocating these investments between non-registered and TFSA, how should I generally be thinking about this? International stocks and bonds into the TFSA until it’s full and cash and Canadian stocks in the non-registered account? I don’t think they will be making any new contribution so perhaps there is no way to use the RRSP.

I look forward to your thoughts and apologise for asking a multi-part questions. If you start to run out of steam, don’t worry about the tax questions.

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Will on July 04, 2018
Q: Hi !

I invest mostly in growth stocks but with 28% of my portfolio in tech, I may be overloaded in this sector. My present holdings are: CSU (2.7%) PHO (2.5%) KXS (3.2%) SHOP (3.5%) ADBE (3.1%) FB (2.7%) GOOG (2.6%) MU (1.8%) NVDA (2.2%) SQ (3.%). If I were to reduce the number of holdings as well as my tech %, on which stocks would you suggest to concentrate, identifying those with most growth potential and those more risky ? Are there any other stocks better suited to my goal ? Or should I stay the course here ?
Thank you for your good attention,
JD
Read Answer Asked by Jacques on July 04, 2018
Q: Howdy!
I am slowly repositioning the Canadian equity portion of my RRSP portfolio to emulate your Balanced Equity Portfolio.
About 27% of my portfolio is sitting on cash right now; I do not yet own the listed companies - Are they all good to buy today? Or please rank them in order of value for purchase today versus perhaps holding off a quarter or two.
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by David on July 04, 2018
Q: What are your top picks in CD and CS
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by James on July 04, 2018
Q: I have recently taken over my parent’s investment account management because of health reasons. I found that my parent’s financial advisor had their money tied up and mutual funds with heavy fees, as well as GICs that were locked in for a long period of time. The money is now available for investing. They are retired and in their 80s. I will be keeping most of the money in HISA, GIC, and some short term bonds if the yields ever go above GICs. I would like to include a couple of stocks that are quite secure and pay decent dividends. And suggestions? I was thinking of RY, CM, BNS, PWF, BCE, CU, TRP, and ENB. Do these sound good, and do you have other suggestions?
Read Answer Asked by Federico on July 04, 2018
Q: I'm a young investor (early 30s) and have previously had all of my portfolio in equities. I'm concerned about risk and want to put about a quarter of the portfolio into safer, fixed income type investments. I'm struggling to understand the benefits of investing in GICs (currently with rates of 2.8-3.5%) vs Bond ETFs (like VAB or ZAG). Can you help explain the difference and benefits between Bond ETFs and investing in a direct GIC? Can you recommend the better choice for me; GICs or Bond ETFs?
Read Answer Asked by Michael on July 04, 2018
Q: I have about a 3% position in HR.UN and a 4% position in SRU.UN. Both pay a good dividend but I'm down about 9% in both. Perhaps I should switch to a residential or industrial Reit for more growth potential. Any suggestions?
Read Answer Asked by John on July 04, 2018